Archive for 70’s

From 'Deja Vu' - Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young - Our house is a very very fine house.

Whenever I hear Republicans and other right-wingers talking about 'taking the country back' I know they mean something very different than I do. They want to take us back to the most repressive age possible.

I, on the other hand, want to take us back to the 70's, where we first saw a glimmering of all the good things our country could become - and still can.

To excerpt from Imagine by John Lennon.....'Imagine no possessions....and no religions too.'

Ray Manzarek, a founding member of The Doors whose versatile and often haunting keyboards complimented Jim Morrison's gloomy baritone and helped set the mood for some of rock's most enduring songs, has died. He was 74.

The Doors' original lineup, which also included drummer John Densmore and guitarist Robbie Krieger, was only together for a few years. But the band has retained a large and obsessive following decades after Morrison's death, in 1971.

The Doors have sold more than 100 million records and songs such as "Light My Fire" and "Riders On the Storm" are still "classic" rock standards. For Doors admirers, the band symbolized the darker side of the Los Angeles lifestyle, what happened to the city after the sun went down and the Beach Boys fans headed home.

Next to Morrison, Manzarek was the most distinctive looking band member, his glasses and wavy blond hair making him resemble a young English professor more than a rock star, a contrast to Morrison's Dionysian glamour — his sensuous mouth and long, dark hair. Musically, Manzarek's spidery organ on "Light My Fire" is one of the most instantly recognizable sounds in rock history.

Richards had been battling esophageal cancer, according to a statement from Universal Music.

As leader of the Motown songwriting, arranging and producing team known as The Corporation, Richards was involved in writing and producing many Jackson 5 hits, the Universal Music release said. Those songs included the Jackson 5's first three No. 1 hits - "I Want You Back," "ABC," and "The Love You Save."

He also co-wrote "Love Child" for Diana Ross & The Supremes, as well Ross' solo "I'm Still Waiting."

Other recording artists for whom Richards produced or wrote songs include Bobby Darin, Martha Reeves & the Vandellas.